The move is a surprise, as many assumed the app would have access to Twitter’s so-called social graph, giving it a significant advantage over competing apps, most notably Meerkat.

The system for adding followers on Periscope mirrors what Twitter does with Vine, its six-second looping video app.

That Periscope users must build their followers organically rather than starting off by being able to stream to all their Twitter followers is a very big deal, because that means it must compete on a semi-level playing field with Meerkat, the one-to-many livestreaming video app that’s gotten huge amounts of attention this month, particularly during South by Southwest (SXSW).

Periscope, which Twitter confirmed last week it had bought, was designed to make it possible to start streaming video with just two clicks. Users can notify all their followers that they’ve gone live, or choose a select group to stream to. The app is available only on iOS for now.

The big question on everyone’s mind is how the launch of Periscope will affect Meerkat. Meerkat has reportedly built a user base of more than 300,000.

Timing of the Periscope launch is somewhat curious, given that it comes in the middle of F8, Facebook’s annual developers conference, which concludes today. But a Twitter spokesperson said it was simply a matter of when the app was ready.

This is Twitter’s third stand-alone video app. It also has Vine, which lets users create looping six-second videos, and Vine Kids. In addition, the company recently launched a native video feature, which lets people create and edit video from within Twitter. Taken together, it’s clear that the social network considers video a big part of the content its users create, and potentially a major revenue generator. However, it has not said how it plans to monetize Periscope.

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]]>0Like Vine, Twitter will make you find new followers from scratch on PeriscopeAt Facebook’s F8, Messenger Platform excites developers who see the boost it may give their appshttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/25/at-facebooks-f8-messenger-platform-excites-developers-who-see-the-boost-it-may-give-their-apps/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/25/at-facebooks-f8-messenger-platform-excites-developers-who-see-the-boost-it-may-give-their-apps/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2015 22:30:12 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1685579Developers who integrate their apps through the platform will get exposure to the 600 million users of Messenger.
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SAN FRANCISCO — With its announcement today of the Messenger Platform, Facebook argued it could be a very big deal for developers, and judging by the reaction of some of the very people who will be making apps and experiences that integrate with platform, they seem to think so too.

At its F8 developers conference here today, the social network unveiled a range of new services and tools, including Messenger Platform, Messenger for Business, support for 360-degree video, a Parse software development kit for the Internet of Things, a new mobile app advertising analytics tool, embeddable videos, and more.

But clearly, the biggest news of the day was the unveiling of the Messenger Platform, which among other things means that users can acquire apps directly from Messenger, and that many apps will have direct integration with the messaging tool. It also builds on Facebook’s launch last week of payments on Messenger, shows that the company is dead serious about making Messenger a one-stop shop for a broad set of functions, and provides more rationale for why it spun out the messaging tool as a stand-alone app, much to the chagrin at the time of millions of people.

Now? As Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on stage at F8, Messenger has 600 million users.

Above: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg giving an interview at F8 in San Francisco

Image Credit: Daniel Terdiman/VentureBeat

“People wondered why Facebook split Messenger out from the stand-alone Facebook app,” said Patrick Salyer, CEO of Gigya, the development of an identity management platform, in a statement. “And now we know. Messenger is becoming an e-commerce and service platform, and it’s one that could end up being a powerful way for brands to turn one-time shoppers into engaged, lifelong customers.”

All of this is likely good news for many of the more than 2,500 developers in attendance here. “It was really exciting,” said Matt Wilson, a machine learning scientist for Weaver Labs, which makes an app built to allow users to send a variety of illustrations along with simple text messages. “Messenger Platform looks very interesting for us. It sounds like they have quite a lot of [app] integration now…. If it’s as easy as they make it seem, that’s incredible.”

Wilson also said he was impressed by Messenger’s new business applications. Being able to buy products directly through Messenger and then track their purchase all the way from the merchant to their home is a significant addition to what was once just an alternative to texting.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Wilson said, “but I would actually use Messenger to keep track of that information in one place…. I could see keeping Messenger on my phone and not just using it to send messages to friends.”

To Salyer, Messenger for Business has more tangible financial benefits tied to identity. “The most intriguing news from F8 was the integration of Messenger for e-commerce,” he said. “Facebook’s most powerful tool — for its own business and for brands — has always been Identity…. Messenger for Business pushes identity firmly into customer service territory. By harnessing customers’ identities (through strict user permissions), an e-commerce store can now not only provide updates on shipping or help customers change their orders, but now has the ability to understand who users are and what they want. That could come in the form of upsells, discounts, or special offers if users provide access to their social graph.”

Competition with other messaging platforms

One of Facebook’s obvious motivations for building out the Messenger Platform is to better position it against competing messaging tools that have already broadened their offerings, including Snapchat and Asia’s WeChat and Line. And that includes helping app and game developers find new audiences.

According to Norm Liang of Sungy Mobile, a Chinese utility app maker, WeChat, Line, and Kakao have helped apps spread virally in Asia. “I could see how this is good for helping apps spread,” Liang said after Facebook’s keynote this morning.

For developers whose apps are part of the initial 40 integrated with Messenger, the unveiling of the platform could well be the springboard to big new audiences, as Liang predicts. “Obviously, this gives you a lot of exposure to a larger user base,” said Justin Junda, the founder of Score, a sports “trash talking” app.

But while there was plenty of enthusiasm for the announcements at F8 today, not everyone on hand believes Facebook is taking developers in the right direction. “Facebook is a platform for sharing,” said Nicole Lazzaro, the founder and president of XEODesign, a game and user experience design company. And that’s not enough “to get people connected.”

Lazzaro said she doesn’t think Facebook offers enough “verbs” for interactivity, and thinks people want technology to provide more realistic connections. “Facebook really needs to be positioned as a connection platform,” not a sharing platform, she said. “You want to inspire developers. This is [Facebook’s] chance to get them inspired. You want to give them new tools, and new apps to create…. Here, it’s just technologists leading. They don’t really understand why people are [on Facebook] in the first place. It’s a total lack of design leadership.”

VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi contributed to this article.

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]]>0At Facebook’s F8, Messenger Platform excites developers who see the boost it may give their appsVessel’s video subscription service finally launches on iOShttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/24/vessels-video-subscription-service-finally-launches-on-ios/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/24/vessels-video-subscription-service-finally-launches-on-ios/#commentsTue, 24 Mar 2015 07:00:14 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1684092Short-form video subscription service Vessel has officially launched on iOS with some interesting partnerships. Vessel is a mobile video service that serves up a selection of content from around the web for $2.99 a month. The video platform distinguishes itself from YouTube, Vimeo, and Hulu by offering only short-form video with a 72-hour exclusive period. Already the […]
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Short-form video subscription service Vessel has officially launched on iOS with some interesting partnerships.

Vessel is a mobile video service that serves up a selection of content from around the web for $2.99 a month. The video platform distinguishes itself from YouTube, Vimeo, and Hulu by offering only short-form video with a 72-hour exclusive period.

Already the company has signed agreements with some big TV networks, including Discovery Digital Networks (including for the network’s popular program MythBusters), the Science Channel, A&E, NBC, and the NBA. The Science Channel says it will show its Outrageous Acts of Science program on Vessel, and NBC will feature snippets from The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers. The NBA says it will offer sports recaps on the platform.

Vessel has also struck deals with some YouTube stars like GloZell Green, as well as with Internet-only programs, like Alec Baldwin’s Love Ride.

In addition, the app will feature videos from major media entities like Time Inc., Buzzfeed, the New York Times, and the Verge, though those companies will not be sharing content exclusively under any terms.

Essentially, Vessel is creating a platform that aggregates some of the best free content on the web and charges a small fee for exclusive early access to that programming. It’s also offering content creators a chance to make a little extra money — or a lot of extra money.

By charging a subscription fee and running advertisements, the company says it’s able to land content creators $50 per thousand impressions. In contrast, according to a fewdifferentsources, it seems that YouTube stars generally make anywhere from $0.20 to $10 per thousand impressions.

As television finally — if slowly — moves to the web, Vessel is making a pitch to be part of your overall digital subscription package, alongside SlingTV and HBO Go. At $2.99 its pricing is far less than the average channel subscription, but then again, the bulk of its content is inherently free.

This may make it hard for the company to get users to sign up, especially since Vessel does show advertising.

But with $75 million in a single round of venture funding, it’s clear the company’s investors think Vessel will be popular.

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]]>0Vessel’s video subscription service finally launches on iOSLet the Meerkat backlash beginhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/16/let-the-meerkat-backlash-begin/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/16/let-the-meerkat-backlash-begin/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 00:31:31 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1679929Opinion:I figured I better download the app and see what all the fuss is about. After a weekend of watching Meerkat streams, my eyes are still bleeding.
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Meerkat, Meerkat, Meerkat.

At this point in my life, when everyone starts hyping a new website or app or variety of organic lettuce, my reaction is to burrow deeper into bed and pull the covers up over my head, hoping that it all goes away. I’m too old to be trying to understand all this stuff. Honestly, Snapchat: I still don’t get it.

But following the mini-epic controversy over Twitter’s decision to make it harder for Meerkat to gain a gajillion followers in a blink, I figured I better download the app and see what all the fuss is about. It is now Monday afternoon and after a weekend of watching Meerkat streams, my eyes are still bleeding.

Just when you think you’ve discovered every awful aspect of humanity, along comes a new and innovative way to despise people you barely even know. Meerkat is that thing.

No matter how many streams I clicked on, I pretty much saw one of two things. One, someone sitting around doing nothing. Or two, someone running around talking about how they were Meerkat-ing (has it become a verb yet?) and then talking to other people who were talking about how they were Meerkat-ing.

At some point over the weekend, I realized that the apocalypse can not come fast enough. As a species, humanity has run its course, and when the asteroid hits or the nuclear experiment causes Godzilla to rise from the bottom of the Pacific and devour us all, it will be a relief. Because there will be no more Meerkat.

Admittedly, it was probably horrific timing on my part to dive into Meerkat on the weekend of SXSW. Over the years, SXSW has become a place where tech-industry self-love has reached near-pornographic proportions.

Ever since that one time Twitter launched there and became a thing (if not a real business), every attendee apparently prays that another thing will break big at SXSW so that they can say, “I was there that year when (fill in the blank) took off.”

This year, Meerkat is that thing everyone at SXSW is hoping will be the thing they can tell their grandkids about, and as a result they can’t stopping yakking about it.

Perhaps the tipping point for me was watching Mashable founder Pete Cashmore Meerkat-ing around Austin. There was someone following him carrying a Mashable Meerkat sign. He kept asking everyone around him if they used Meerkat or knew about it.

At some point, several people came up to him and said they were Meerkat-ing him while he Meerkat-ed. I felt that at one point, the universe was on the verge of collapsing in on itself and all I could think was, “Good riddance.”

Above: Even the Hootsuite owl is Meerkat-ing now.

Image Credit: Hootsuite

And then in the background, the Hootsuite owl mascot popped its head into the mix, and I began to sob.

Okay, I didn’t really cry. But you get the point. Having moved to France apparently hasn’t managed to put enough distance between me and SXSW. And now, there’s Meerkat rubbing my face in the depravity of strangers parading around deep in the heart of Texas waving their smartphones in people’s faces.

Why is Meerkat having a moment? I can only assume that it was one of two things.

First, it could be because the Twitter auto-follow thing was suddenly spamming people who then felt-digitally brow beaten into downloading the app.

Or second, there are a ton of people streaming live-porn on Meerkat, and since I don’t happen to be following said people on Twitter, I am not seeing it.

I suppose at some point, given time, people will figure out what to do with Meerkat and it might become the next Twitter, rather than the next Foursquare.

But as for me, I’m going back to bed. If civilization comes crashing down, please don’t wake me. Though I suspect you won’t since you’ll be too busy Meerkat-ing the rapture.

]]>0Let the Meerkat backlash beginTwitter cripples Meerkat by cutting off access to its social graphhttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/twitter-cripples-meerkat-by-cutting-off-access-to-its-social-graph/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/13/twitter-cripples-meerkat-by-cutting-off-access-to-its-social-graph/#commentsSat, 14 Mar 2015 03:51:51 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1679199The move gives Periscope, which Twitter just bought, a big advantage as it will surely launch with access to Twitter's social graph.
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For Meerkat, the live streaming video mobile app that’s taken the digerati by storm the past two weeks, being able to automatically connect users to their Twitter followers is essential. So by cutting off that access today in the wake of announcing it had bought a competing app, Twitter has dealt Meerkat a tough blow.

The move to cut off access to its so-called social graph, which was first reported by BuzzFeed, means that Meerkat posts will not automatically push notifications to users’ Twitter followers. It came the same day Twitter announced it had bought Periscope, an as-yet-unlaunched live-streaming app. It was also the first day of the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) festival, which is being held in Austin, Texas.

Because it was the first day of SXSW, during which apps are frequently launched, a third live-streaming app, Stre.am, did so today. That launch was first reported by VentureBeat.

A Twitter spokesperson told VentureBeat that, “We are limiting [Meerkat’s] access to Twitter’s social graph, consistent with our internal policy. Their users will still be able to distribute videos on Twitter and login with their Twitter credentials.”

Twitter’s decision is clearly meant to give Periscope an advantage, since its users will no doubt have access to Twitter’s social graph. If Twitter doesn’t reverse the change, that will mean Meerkat will have to hope its users care enough to organically build a following.

Meerkat did get a nice running start before the change, and was certainly the tech world’s darling since it launched in late February. But as investor Hunter Walk put it tonight, “the[Meerkat] Suggested User List just became more important,” meaning the app will have to give its users an easy way to find interesting people to follow.

But Meerkat remains defiant. In a series of tweets this evening, founder Ben Rubin said that “Twitter’s move here shows how significant Meerkat has become. This is a small bump for Meerkat — a product built in only 8 weeks by one person — and a sad day for the Twitter developer community, who build amazing products that help us connect with each other. And lastly, this is just the beginning for Meerkat. The revolution will be live streamed.”

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]]>0Twitter cripples Meerkat by cutting off access to its social graphNew mobile app hunts Meerkat by streaming live on Facebook, Twitter, email, and SMShttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/12/new-mobile-app-hunts-meerkat-by-streaming-live-on-facebook-twitter-email-and-sms/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/12/new-mobile-app-hunts-meerkat-by-streaming-live-on-facebook-twitter-email-and-sms/#commentsThu, 12 Mar 2015 13:30:41 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1677653Stre.am is up for an Innovation award at SXSW this week and could knock off the space's two-week-old king of the hill.
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When a new app enters a space dominated by a major player, it can be a very tough path to success. Even when that major player has only been around for two weeks.

Such is the road ahead for Stre.am, a brand-new live-streaming app launching tomorrow and aiming to take on Meerkat, the big boy in the space. While it might seem like it’s been around for ages, Meerkat, of course, only appeared at the end of February. Already, it has already become the hottest app of the moment, attracting a wide range of digerati and filling many people’s Twitter feeds over the past few days.

Stre.am, which is a finalist for a South by Southwest Innovation Award next week, allows users to live-stream video from their iOS or Android device and share in real time over Twitter, Facebook, Google+, email, and text message, or to shoot 15-second “reels” that are available for 24 hours. It also enables real-time messaging during live streams, which allows people to communicate directly with the person broadcasting a stream.

For Stre.am CEO Eric Bowman, the latest developments in the live-streaming app space must be both exciting — because the space is being validated — and bittersweet. Besides Meerkat’s blowing up since its launch, word also leaked this week that Twitter has reportedly bought another live-streaming app, Periscope.

Above: Users can either live stream video or shoot ‘reels’ that can be watched for up to 24 hours.

Image Credit: Stre.am

Bowman and a small team first started building Stre.am a little over a year ago, well before Meerkat’s developers pivoted from their previous app, and no doubt hoped they would be the ones to control the space.

But Bowman argues, first, that there’s plenty of room for multiple live-streaming apps, and second, that Stre.am has some significant differentiators that will set it apart and elevate it above its rivals.

For one thing, Meerkat streams are automatically shared via Twitter, and only Twitter. For another, while they can be recorded and scheduled for future broadcast, they cannot be stored. By comparison, in addition to letting users share their videos across many different networks — or no networks at all — Stre.am allows its users to share those videos for a full day after recording them.

Stre.am is also looking to give those watching people’s videos more control. For example, you can anonymously watch someone’s stream. “We’re big believers in the voyeur experience,” Bowman explained. “People may want to peek in and watch…[and not] want their friends to think they’re stalking them.”

If users want, they can change their mind and make it known that they’re watching mid-stream.

Not dependent on Twitter

In its current iteration, Meerkat depends on Twitter to get videos to viewers. When a user is streaming, the app sends out an alert to their Twitter followers. That makes Meerkat vulnerable to the whims of Twitter, as we saw last week when access was temporarily restricted.

Stre.am went a different direction, Bowman argued. The company built its own transcoders and its own broadcast mechanisms, he said, which gives its users the “ability to be as flexible as they want.”

In fact, during Stre.am’s beta test, more than half of its users were sharing their videos on Facebook — something that’s not possible right now with Meerkat.

It could be argued, of course, that Twitter is a more natural platform for a live-streaming app, since the social network’s users see all activity, in real time, from those they follow, while Facebook presents an algorithmically curated, non-real-time feed. But Bowman explained that because more users are continuously logged into Facebook’s mobile app than to Twitter’s makes the former a logical first-choice sharing platform. And that’s another reason why Stre.am allows users to create the stored reels, which are viewable for 24 hours.

Bowman said he and a staff of about 10 to 12 people bootstrapped Stre.am — with additional software development help from a separate company.

Now, Stre.am is hoping the South by Southwest audience’s thirst for exciting new interactive apps will springboard it to success. Meerkat may already feel like it’s insurmountable, given its incredible buzz. It’s a beast of an app, but Meerkat has just a two-week head start. It’s no Google, and Stre.am, or another app altogether, could knock it from its place on the top of the pyramid.

Looking to give users a reason to keep coming back to Slingshot, Facebook’s wanna-be Snapchat app, it has just announced Explore, a tool designed to find “funny, inspiring and creative” people using the service.

In a blog post Tuesday, Slingshot said Explore was all about giving users what they wanted: a way to find the people on the app doing interesting things.

“As we grow, many have asked for an easier way to discover other creative people around the world,” Slingshot wrote. “We wanted to do this in a fun way that puts the focus on people and helps create new connections within our community.”

Slingshot said Explore focuses on the app’s popular users, letting others see their photos and decide which of them to follow. The feature seems to be opt-out, meaning users can choose not to be visible via Explore.

Facebook had hoped it could bottle some of Snapchat’s magic with Slingshot. But that doesn’t seem to have worked. In December, it redesigned the app. At the time, it added the ability to send looping videos or full-screen pictures with just two taps on the screen. Users could also pick from five filters, and add drawings and captions.

]]>0Facebook now lets you ‘Explore’ interesting people on SlingshotYou can now embed Twitter video on your websitehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/02/you-can-now-embed-twitter-video-on-your-website/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/02/you-can-now-embed-twitter-video-on-your-website/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 19:25:09 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1671382Twitter releases embeddable video, to get content created on its site in front of more eyes.
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Today, Twitter is announcing a way for you to embed video created on its platform to your website or blog. The new feature follows the recent release of a series of video tools for the micro-blogging site.

“Video embeds are available for videos captured and uploaded through Twitter’s applications for iOS and Android as well as Twitter Amplify partners.”

In late January, Twitter rolled out a set of video features that allow you to shoot, edit, and post 30-second video clips to its micro-blog feed. Adding the option of embeddable video is a small update, but allows Twitter to get content created on its platform visible in more places.

Users can click on the “more” icon in a tweet to find the video’s embed code.

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]]>0You can now embed Twitter video on your websiteYahoo launches its own TV Guidehttp://venturebeat.com/2015/03/02/yahoo-launches-its-own-tv-guide/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/02/yahoo-launches-its-own-tv-guide/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 14:38:07 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1671109The new magazine will feature articles and analysis of television shows -- and celebrity guest bloggers like Gillian Anderson.
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Yahoo is going after TV Guide with its latest product launch.

Today, Yahoo is launching a new digital magazine called Yahoo TV. The new magazine will feature articles and analysis of television shows. In a blog post the company wrote:

Whether you’re looking to plan your weekly watch list or to decide the most binge-worthy shows to stream, our Yahoo TV writers will guide you to must-watch content through expert analysis, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes sneak peeks and more. Like you, our writers and editors are obsessed with TV, and we’re excited to start an ongoing conversation that helps you discover the best of what’s next on TV and catch up on today’s most talked about shows.

The new website will also include content from celebrity guest bloggers like Gillian Anderson, who played Dana Scully on The X-Files.

The magazine is Yahoo’s latest bid at the screen. The company has been showing its own video content since 2008, but has made a more concentrated push towards video and live streamed content since 2011 with the launch of Yahoo Screen. Recently the company has also taken on traditional television programming. This year Yahoo Screen will be the sole outlet running a sixth season of the NBC television series Community.

The magazine is just its latest foray into video. Rather than just providing the content, Yahoo is trying to lead the discussion on video programming.

Just a year after launching Digg Video, the company is widening its offering to include a full-screen mode called Digg TV.

The new feature allows you to line up a playlist of Digg videos and then cozy up to the screen and watch them back-to-back. That means no more “popcorn butter all over your keyboard,” the company said in a blog post.

It’s quite like YouTube’s playlist feature, but Digg said it offers a more “curated” experience. Through its Explore feature, users can choose relevant channels or put together their own collection of videos. But ultimately, Digg is putting an emphasis on discovery here.

The new Digg TV mode is still in beta. The company said over the coming months it may play with ways to expand the experience by adding videos from more sources (::cough:: Vice ::cough::); the ability to save video you find around the web to a Digg playlist; integration with Apple TV, Chromecast, and other streaming hardware; and an app that transforms your phone into a remote control.

Clearly, Digg is making a bid for the growing number of cord-cutters around the U.S. The company noted in its blog post that millennials are consuming 33 percent more digital video than they did last year, and 20 percent less traditional TV, according to a report from Nielsen.

The Order: 1886 developer claims it was going for a “filmic” experience with the alternate-history shooter, but I think the voice-acting director went too far in trying to create atmosphere.

One of the many weird things I noticed while playing The Order: 1886 (read my review for more) was heavy nose breathing. Whenever a character is alone on screen, they break into some loud nasal-based respiratory action. I can only describe it as Tony Soprano-esque.

I had to share it with you, so I went ahead cut together some of the most notable nose-breathing sequences from the game. Check it out:

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]]>0Why does everyone in The Order: 1886 breathe like Tony Soprano?8K displays for laptops may be coming in 2016, thanks to new video spechttp://venturebeat.com/2015/02/10/8k-displays-for-laptops-may-be-coming-in-2016-thanks-to-new-video-spec/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/10/8k-displays-for-laptops-may-be-coming-in-2016-thanks-to-new-video-spec/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 09:34:51 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1658773That handily top the 4K screens you can find on some laptops today or the 5K display on the iMac.
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If you want to see 8K resolution on a screen today, you probably have to settle for ogling a demo TV at a consumer electronics show. But while we wait for 8K TVs to hit the mainstream market, the approval of a new video standard may pave the way for more companies to start developing 8K screens on laptops.

The Video Electronics Standards Association recently approved Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a. This format will enable the use of 8K screens on both laptops and all-in-one desktop computers. That handily top the 4K screens you can find on some laptops today or the 5K display on the iMac.

The new 8K standard allows computers to compress more data while also segmenting the screen into two or four sections to help manage the flow of video to the screen, according to VESA. The association says the new standard will start being built into systems in 2016.

]]>08K displays for laptops may be coming in 2016, thanks to new video specTwitter launches Vine for kids app on iOShttp://venturebeat.com/2015/01/30/twitter-launches-version-of-vine-for-kids-for-ios/
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/30/twitter-launches-version-of-vine-for-kids-for-ios/#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 17:53:44 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1652817The new stand-alone app will be full of short videos appropriate for children.
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Updated at 1:53 pm Pacific with information about how content will be selected.

In a blog post, Twitter said the new app is meant to be a place full of short videos appropriate for kids to watch.

“We’ve seen for ourselves — and heard from parents, siblings and others,” Vine’s Carolyn Penner wrote, “that kids love Vine. So, we built Vine Kids, a simple new app that gives young children a fun way to watch Vines.”

Recently, Penner wrote, a Vine employee was talking about how much his daughter enjoyed watching the six-second videos. “He said he wished there was a separate app she could use to more easily watch posts that are appropriate for kids.”

It turns out, Penner added, that this was during a Vine hack week. “So two folks teamed up and built exactly that.”

It appears that the app’s content will be manually curated. “Through adorable animated characters,” its iTunes description reads, “kids can watch hand-selected videos that are appropriate for a young audience.”

For now, Vine Kids is available only for iOS. No word on if or when it will be coming for Android.

Updated at 10:03 am Pacific The headline originally stated video views were up. It has been corrected.

The number of videos Facebook users post has skyrocketed over the last year, up 75 percent globally and 94 percent in the U.S., the company said today.

In a blog post this afternoon, Facebook said that huge increase has meant the number of videos in users’ News Feeds has gone up 3.6 times in the last year.

Video is a massive component of what makes its way through the Facebook universe, with more than a billion video views every day since June, the company said. At least half of all Facebook users who visit every day watch a video at least once a day, and 76 percent of Americans who use the social network “say they tend to discover the videos they watch on Facebook.”

These numbers have to be catnip for advertisers and content creators, especially those who are considering where to post their work or their marketing messages. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and others are all vying to be the video leader, and for the resulting advertising dollars.

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]]>0Video posts on Facebook up 75% globally, 94% in the U.S.Instagram adds 5 new filters and slow-motion video uploadshttp://venturebeat.com/2014/12/16/instagram-adds-5-new-filters-and-slow-motion-video-uploads/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/16/instagram-adds-5-new-filters-and-slow-motion-video-uploads/#commentsTue, 16 Dec 2014 18:00:20 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1626160The new features help set the popular photo-sharing app apart from Twitter and others.
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Instagram just got a little bit richer, with the addition of five new filters, slow-motion video uploading, and real-time commenting.

In a blog post this morning, the popular photo-sharing app, which just hit 300 million accounts last week, said it is adding the five new filters, the first since “Mayfair and Willow [joined] the Instagram filter family” two years ago, in part because “photography trends have evolved, and the capabilities of the camera on your phone have vastly improved.”

Above: Instagram has added five new filters, as well as other tools like slow-motion video, and the ability to rearrange filters.

Image Credit: Instagram

Instagram said the new filters can be found at the front of users’ filter trays. They’re called Slumber, Crema, Ludwig, Aden, and Perpetua. “They soften and subtly shift colors to achieve the look and feel you want for each photo,” the blog post continued.

The new filters, as well as other new features, are part of Instagram for iOS version 6.4, and Android version 6.12, both available today.

For Instagram, adding new filters and other tools for shooting and uploading video is key as services like Twitter bolster their own photo-sharing and editing offerings. And although Instagram has yet to build out a fully-fleshed business model, it is expected to do so in 2015. Facebook, which purchased Instagram in 2012 for $715 million in cash and stock, is surely eager to begin getting a substantial financial return on its investment, even though it has already reaped plenty of benefits in terms of new users.

With the release, users will also see some changes to how photos are displayed. When applying a filter to photos, the filter icons at the bottom of the screen will show a blurred preview of the filtered picture. In addition, Instagram now lets users rearrange their filters in any order they want, including hiding ones they don’t like, all via a new “Manage” button.

Finally, users will also for the first time be able to upload slow-motion video, see — and leave — real-time comments, and adjust the perspective of a photo.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — For Facebook’s many advertisers and its 1.3 billion users, there’s a common goal: Delivering relevant marketing in the most efficient manner.

Every month, a billion people use Facebook on mobile devices, 700 million of whom use the social network every day, and many of whom stay logged in simultaneously on both their desktop and mobile devices. That’s a massive advertising opportunity, and the company has been working diligently to muster resources that can help marketers get the most return on their investment possible.

At an AdTech event at its headquarters today, Facebook laid out the recent history of its advertising ecosystem, as well as its vision for how things are likely to progress over the next two years. At its core, Facebook knows its huge user base, and the information the company has about those users and their behaviors, gives it a big advantage in helping marketers find the right way to target their advertising. “That gives us the foundation for what advertisers want,” said Brian Boland, Facebook’s vice president of Ad Tech, “and to get messages in front of people. We’re moving from a mass reach product to a personalized product.”

The stakes are huge for Facebook as it seeks to be the publishing platform of choice for advertisers everywhere. Already, Google’s DoubleClick advertising platform is an industry standard, and Twitter has invested substantial resources in developing advertising products that can boost its revenue. For Facebook, the potential is there to reliably bring in billions of dollars through its ad platform, but if it doesn’t deliver on that promise, businesses will turn to its rivals, taking their ad spend with them.

One of Facebook’s biggest advantages is that its understanding of who its users are allows it to far more accurately target ads than many of its competitors across digital marketing, Boland said. He explained that while general online advertising is just 59 percent accurate in even knowing users’ gender, Facebook tops 90 percent. Similarly, when it comes to age groups, Facebook hits 89 percent accuracy, compared to just 35 percent across the Web.

All of that is at the core of what Facebook calls Custom Audiences, an ad targeting system that helps marketers discover who their audiences are among users of the huge social network, and to do so by uploading information about customers and their purchase decisions, but in a way that protects users’ privacy.

Facebook wants to go further, giving advertisers better tools for how and where to reach those audiences. That’s particularly important, Boland said, because many marketers have lacked confidence that Facebook would work for them in the same way that years of experience has shown that TV is ideal for targeting would-be customers. And without that confidence, advertisers are less likely to invest money in the platform.

With that in mind, Facebook has built three so-called “pillars:” reaching its huge audience, getting them into a “high-impact environment,” and accurate measurement, Boland said. Together, those three pillars should give advertisers the confidence that they’ll get a suitable return on their investment.

Above: Facebook advertising executives held a “whiteboard” session today to lay out the three so-called “pillars” of the company’s advertising strategy.

Image Credit: Daniel Terdiman

One of the biggest problems, Boland continued, is that while marketers “love being able to spend on Facebook,” there was little way for them to compare how their ad spending there compared to the return they got on other digital platforms like Google, Twitter, and so on.

They needed to better understand how Facebook “fit with the rest of their digital mix.”

One substantial issue is that the existing systems made it very difficult for advertisers to even understand that someone logged into Facebook on multiple devices was still only one person.

And that’s what led Facebook to buy Microsoft’s Atlas in 2013, a platform that lets advertisers serve, track, and measure digital ad campaigns, and which generates billions of daily ad impressions across multiple channels. The service launched at the end of October, said Erik Johnson, head of Atlas, which is based not inside Facebook in Silicon Valley, but in Seattle. As Boland put it, integrating Atlas allowed Facebook to understand not just online advertising, but to drill down into mobile, and to tie offline behavior to online.

Even as it was integrating Atlas, Facebook also saw increased interest in serving video ads into users’ News Feeds. As a result, last July it acquired LiveRail, a video advertising company, for a reported $500 million.

As Boland put it, LiveRail provides businesses with a deep toolset for targeting users with relevant video advertising, again with the goal of boosting ROI and giving them the confidence that Facebook is worth their ad dollars.

That was especially true when it came to mobile advertising. With such a huge audience on mobile, and the fact that marketers wanted to be sure they were reaching the specific age and gender groups they want to target with their video campaigns, LiveRail was a way to better efficiency.

All together, then, Facebook’s complete set of advertising tools is meant to provide its business partners with ways to better understand and target marketing messages at users, and to better understand the ways people use Facebook — that even if someone is logged in on multiple devices, they are still one person, and that their needs and interests are the same.

Ultimately, Boland concluded, Facebook knows that the world of advertising is “democratic,” and that “nobody gets to hide in this world, including Facebook.” If Facebook’s systems work for its partners, everyone succeeds. “Facebook is held fully accountable,” he said. “There’s no disproportionate winners…. That’s fundamentally a good thing for the industry.”

]]>0Facebook goes all-in on advertising after years of laying groundworkBlue Jeans launches Primetime with TEDx, Sundance for 1,000+ person online conferences (for free)http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/10/blue-jeans-launches-primetime-with-tedx-sundance-for-1000-person-online-conferences-for-free/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/10/blue-jeans-launches-primetime-with-tedx-sundance-for-1000-person-online-conferences-for-free/#commentsWed, 10 Dec 2014 19:06:18 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1622569Blue Jeans’ corporate goal is to provide a billion minutes of videoconferencing. Today, the company is a little more than halfway there. Clearly, however, the company is impatient. Today Blue Jeans launched what it calls the next step in videoconferencing: fully interactive online video conferences at scale. It’s the only technology, the company says, that will allow […]
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Blue Jeans’ corporate goal is to provide a billion minutes of videoconferencing. Today, the company is a little more than halfway there.

Clearly, however, the company is impatient.

Today Blue Jeans launched what it calls the next step in videoconferencing: fully interactive online video conferences at scale. It’s the only technology, the company says, that will allow you to interact with thousands of people online in real time and promote any of those thousands of audience members to active participants at any given time.

“At one end of spectrum you have meeting tools like conferencing systems,” chief commercial officer Stu Aaron told me today. “They work well, they’re great for interactivity, but they don’t scale. At the other end you have webcasting or streaming tools, which scale well, but are not very intimate.”

Primetime is intended to provide the intimacy and interaction of videoconferencing systems while retaining the scale of webcasting tools. The technology has been in field trials since September, and Blue Jeans has an all-star lineup of launch partners including TEDx, the iconic short lecture series that has swept the globe, and the Sundance Film Festival. Other partners include RedHat, Wikia, and the Wharton School of Business.

“With over 3,000 yearly events spread across 165 countries, we have TEDx organizers in every corner of the globe,” says Alex Rudloff, chief digital strategist for TEDx. “Online video is the perfect way for us to connect, and this tool’s interactivity is making it possible for us to do this in large groups like never before.”

The best part?

For the next few months while Primetime is in public beta, it will be free. That’s a big benefit for anyone who wants to do a major event, as Blue Jeans is charging about $3,500 for a typical one-hour, 1,000-person online event.

Blue Jeans’ previous technology scales up to about 100 users, the company told me. The new Primetime scales to thousands, but includes tools for moderators to promote any of the thousands to full contributor status, allowing them to virtually raise their hands, ask questions, interact with conference leaders, and share video from their laptops, phones, conferencing systems, or tablets.

Pricing — yes, it will eventually cost money — will be subscription-based, but you’ll also be able to buy just one event, or a block of events.

Blue Jeans thinks this new technology will vastly expand the market space for videoconferencing, taking it out of merely the business realm into the events realm — and further, into the entertainment space. While currently videoconferencing is about a $10 billion market, the company sees perhaps $200 billion of addressable market space with this new tool.

“Take a show like Dr. Phil,” Aaron says. “Let viewers actually engage in the discussion. Sports agencies can help athletes monetize some of their time … tweet out that they will be on Blue Jeans PrimeTime, where they can talk to the masses, but people can pay to be promoted into the interactive segment.”

With all this expansion of audience, Blue Jeans knows it needs more advanced functionality for moderation and safety.

]]>0Blue Jeans launches Primetime with TEDx, Sundance for 1,000+ person online conferences (for free)Vimeo debuts a slick new mobile websitehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/12/02/vimeo-debuts-a-slick-new-mobile-website/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/12/02/vimeo-debuts-a-slick-new-mobile-website/#commentsTue, 02 Dec 2014 15:00:41 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1616097Following its history of being the Mercedes of streaming video services, Vimeo is rolling out a revamped version of its mobile website today.
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Vimeo is significantly smaller than major streaming video player YouTube, but the company’s business model is focused far more on going after enterprise-level customers looking for a quick/easy video solution as well as on-demand indie movie rentals/purchases. Vimeo’s new mobile site features a refined version of the video service that removes some of the regular functionality that didn’t work well when viewed on touchscreen devices. It also features revised navigation, a simplified design, and lots of under-the-hood changes to make the site faster and more responsive for those using wireless connections.

Vimeo is moving most primary functions to a bottom navigation bar while retaining search at the top. From the screenshots (above) it looks like playing a video offers less clutter, too. The company also added a few things, such as the ability to like and save videos to your “Watch Later” queue regardless of if you’ve logged in. With the growing number of people streaming video to their televisions with devices like the Chromecast, this should be particularly useful.

Vimeo said it’s planning to roll out more updates to its mobile site in the near future, including more integration with its iOS and Android native apps. You can check out the new Vimeo mobile site starting today.

]]>0Vimeo debuts a slick new mobile websiteHow to bend Apple’s video preview rules and live to tell the talehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/11/23/how-to-bend-apples-video-preview-rules-and-live-to-tell-the-tale/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/23/how-to-bend-apples-video-preview-rules-and-live-to-tell-the-tale/#commentsSun, 23 Nov 2014 17:30:02 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1610002Guest:Apple seems to turn a blind eye to videos that are not at all in compliance with the guidelines.
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Among the many new and exciting features brought to us by iOS 8, app developers and marketers were especially enthusiastic about the possibility of presenting potential users with a video preview of their app. The 15-30-seconds-long trailer can demonstrate the wonders of your product in the clearest, most entertaining way, and the feature is well on its way to become a mobile marketing must-have.

But even with the new spirit of flexibility of iOS 8, Apple remains Apple, which means that every new feature comes with new guidelines. The company introduced a set of recommendations for creating a brilliant video, and a few more restricting rules that marketers must follow in order to get their precious video approved.

The restrictions are few and painful. To summarize, mobile marketers face the challenge presented mostly by the following limitations:

“Don’t film people interacting with the device (such as over-the-shoulder angles or fingers tapping the screen). Stay within the app”

“For games, show a higher ratio of gameplay to cutscenes.”

In this new, uncharted territory, most app marketers are still hesitant about bending the rules, especially considering the level of financial investment a proper video requires. However, we have recently witnessed a few brave apps who managed to get a rebellious video approved, against all odds and guidelines:

Magisto: The preview for this video-editing app was filmed entirely outside the app. Not only that, it clearly shows the forbidden finger tapping that was specifically mentioned in the guidelines (Note: the link below shows part of the full-length app promo that was used to create the official preview).

Lovoo: much like Magisto, this dating app used outside-the-app footage throughout the entire preview. In addition, the last few seconds show real world video material that has very little, if anything, to do with the actual app.

Samba: The preview is for a video messaging app that records people’s reactions in real-time. Other than capturing footage outside the device and tapping fingers, which we’ve almost grown accustomed to at this point, the video shows footage of a person sitting at a desk, calmly violating the restriction on filming people interacting with the app. Even more interesting is the fact that the original promo for the app (embedded below) displayed longer interaction footage, leaving us to wonder if the company decided to cut it short in an attempt to make the preview a tad more acceptable.

Dance Party: This is by far the most daring violation we’ve seen. The preview for this dancing app shamelessly presents real-world footage of people interacting with the app. It remains unclear how the preview was ever approved, considering that it hardly shows any in-app action at all.

iHookup: To the preview producers’ credit, their way of bending the rules is sort of romantic. The film includes, in addition to the famous animated finger, plenty of sweet dating scenes. Although let’s face it, that’s not exactly why users installed iHookup in the first place, now is it?

Max Axe – Epic Adventure: This is a pretty cool video, and we can see why Apple chose to forgive the fact that it shows quite a bit of cut scenes. The official video (full-length promo shown below) presents very little game time and consists mostly of cute, external animation.

After carefully examining the app previews available at this point, we can already notice a pattern: Apple seems to turn a blind eye to videos that are not at all in compliance with the guidelines. While this may be the case of a reviewer in a very good mood, there’s also a chance that Apple finds it impossible, or even pointless, to enforce the rules. Either way, there are plenty of mobile marketers and developers out there who would love to take advantage of this opportunity and make an original, creative preview.

Gilad Bechar is the cofounder & CEO of Moburst, a global mobile marketing agency helping first-tier startups and brands grow their mobile business. Gilad serves as a mentor to rising startups at Microsoft Accelerator, The Technion, Tel-Aviv University, Unit 8200 and for strategic Moburst clients, and is the Academic Director of the Mobile Marketing and New-Media course at Tel-Aviv University.

]]>0How to bend Apple’s video preview rules and live to tell the taleVideoblocks opens new stock video marketplace, promises videomakers 100% cuthttp://venturebeat.com/2014/11/20/videoblocks-opens-a-new-marketplace-to-send-all-sales-money-to-videomakers/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/20/videoblocks-opens-a-new-marketplace-to-send-all-sales-money-to-videomakers/#commentsThu, 20 Nov 2014 15:00:46 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1609129The existing library can help if you're "looking for aerials of the New York City skyline," CEO Joel Holland said. But the new marketplace will be the place to find "the New York skyline in November as the sun rises over the Brooklyn Bridge."
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Stock media provider Videoblocks is launching what it describes as the first video marketplace where creators keep all of the sales revenue, the company said today.

Currently, the Reston, Va-based company offers a subscription library of over 115,000 royalty-free clips, motion backgrounds, and After Effects templates. Videoclip categories include aerial shots, food, slow motion, and people.

The new marketplace, which is available only to subscribers, will be integrated with the existing subscription library, CEO and founder Joel Holland told VentureBeat. Subscribers pay an annual fee of $99, or a one-month fee of $79, to get unlimited downloads. A seven-day trial is also available for either collection.

“We pre-pay creators for all of their content in our subscription library and acquire non-exclusive, perpetual rights as a result,” Holland told us. He added that his company has “paid creatives many millions to date” in upfront payments.

The new marketplace, on the other hand, will be a “pay-as-you-go” model. The company will make its money only from subscriptions, which it believes will increase because of the new marketplace.

But the total amount creators receive in the marketplace may be only somewhat more than they’d get through the subscription library, since Videoblocks is offering each video at a price — $49 — that it says is about 40 percent less than other places. Creators for the new marketplace, then, will receive what is effectively about 60 percent of standard prices, compared to what Holland said is the 15 to 50 percent paid out by other video stock sites.

Holland told us he is in the process of closing deals with several “really large video contributors” and expects to be offering marketplace videos as part of the overall site inventory within the next few weeks. Other creators are invited to offer their wares.

If the subscription/all-you-can eat model was working, why change it?

“When we spoke to our customers, they told us that, while they love our subscriptions, they’d appreciate having the option to purchase additional footage if they couldn’t find exactly what they need from our [unlimited] subscription service,” he said.

Holland told us he expects the new marketplace to have greater depth in certain subjects, a complement to the greater variety of subjects in the library.

“If you’re looking for aerials of the New York City skyline, we have you covered” in the existing library, he said.

But “if you’re looking for the New York City skyline in November as the sun rises over the Brooklyn Bridge, you will probably have to look in the marketplace.”

Videoblocks is looking to per-clip charges and creators’ fees as differentiators for the company, which also owns GraphicStock for designers and AudioBlocks libraries.

Holland pointed to Shutterstock as his company’s biggest competitor, noting that “they do not have any benefits associated with their subscription like our unlimited download library,=” and that they charge a standard $79 per clip. [Disclosure: VentureBeat subscribes to Shutterstock for an occasional use of their photo library.]

He also noted that Shutterstock has “repeatedly said they think paying contributors 30 percent for their content is fair” and that another competitor, Pond5, pays out 50 percent.

]]>0Videoblocks opens new stock video marketplace, promises videomakers 100% cutRealPlayer Cloud launches apps for Mac and Xbox Onehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/11/03/realplayer-cloud-launches-apps-for-mac-and-xbox-one/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/11/03/realplayer-cloud-launches-apps-for-mac-and-xbox-one/#commentsMon, 03 Nov 2014 17:00:04 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1594296RealNetworks‘ streaming video service RealPlayer Cloud is rolling out new applications today for those with a Mac or Microsoft’s Xbox One game console. The move comes as the company celebrates a year of RealPlayer Cloud service, with 8 million registered users across 40 countries (those stats don’t reveal how often people are using the service). […]
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RealNetworks‘ streaming video service RealPlayer Cloud is rolling out new applications today for those with a Mac or Microsoft’s Xbox One game console.

The move comes as the company celebrates a year of RealPlayer Cloud service, with 8 million registered users across 40 countries (those stats don’t reveal how often people are using the service). RealPlayer Cloud lets you upload video files to the company’s servers, instantly access those videos on all your devices, and share them with your friends.

The two new apps should help RealPlayer Cloud grow the number of users who prefer to purchase digital video files, especially since a lot of the consumers the company is targeting likely own Macs and Xbox Ones. And if that isn’t enough, RealNetworks is offering a promotional $5 per month subscription price to new U.S. customers, which gives them 365 GB of storage.

The Mac app is available today, while the Xbox One app will be available tomorrow, the company said.

]]>0RealPlayer Cloud launches apps for Mac and Xbox OneTumblr doubles down on advertising with sponsored video postshttp://venturebeat.com/2014/10/28/tumblr-doubles-down-on-advertising-with-sponsored-video-posts/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/28/tumblr-doubles-down-on-advertising-with-sponsored-video-posts/#commentsTue, 28 Oct 2014 16:30:05 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1589961Today Tumblr announced the beta launch of in-stream auto-play ads with 11 brands including J.C. Penney, Hulu, Universal, and Unilever’s Axe products. The new ad product comes a week after Tumblr unveiled its new video player. Tumblr’s sponsored video posts will play automatically in-stream on desktop and mobile platforms, with audio defaulting to mute. In a statement, the company […]
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The new ad product comes a week after Tumblr unveiled its new video player. Tumblr’s sponsored video posts will play automatically in-stream on desktop and mobile platforms, with audio defaulting to mute.

In a statement, the company said its video posts are growing twice as fast as photo posts. That means the company’s new sponsored video posts could help it build advertising revenues.

Other partners include Lexus and television station CW. Tumblr says advertisers can expect the full service to roll out in mid-November.

The Plex media-streaming app is now available on the Xbox One video game console. That enables video fans to watch their personal media on a big screen.

Xbox compatibility is one of the most-requested features of the Plex app’s 3 million active users. The app helps organize collections, as you can see all of your videos via one custom window in a pretty user interface. You can sort via date viewed, genre, cast, and other details.

You can discover similar content and receive personalized suggestions based on your viewing habits. And Plex for Xbox supports voice and gesture control with the Kinect motion-sensing system. So you can navigate the video library, control playback, and perform other tasks with the sound of your voice and a wave of the hand thanks to Xbox One’s Kinect motion-sensing and voice-recognition camera.

The Los Gatos, Calif.-based Plex said the app is available to Plex Pass premium subscribers for no additional charge in the apps store on Xbox Live. For those without a Plex Pass, the Plex app for the Xbox One and the Xbox 360 will be available in the future for a one-time fee. Plex gives you access to videos, music, and photos. It is compatible with Mac, Windows 8, Linux, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, many popular NAS devices, and other platforms.

“Plex for Xbox is an exciting milestone in our continued effort to help people enjoy their personal media, wherever they happen to keep it, on all of their screens.” says Scott Olechowski, the chief product officer and Plex cofounder, in a statement. “It also happens to be the platform most requested by Plex enthusiasts, and we have worked hard to design an experience that will delight them and Xbox fans alike.”

The Plex Pass costs $5 a month or $40 a year. If you want a lifetime subscription, it costs $150. Plex has features like Plex Syn, which lets you download content to your smartphone or tablet so you can view it on the run. And it has Cloud Sync, where you can upload up to 2 gigabytes of media files to cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive. You can view those files via Wi-Fi.

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]]>0Plex app for Xbox One lets you stream your own videosWith $20M, JW Player wants video publishers to look past YouTubehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/09/17/with-20m-jw-player-wants-video-publishers-to-look-past-youtube/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/17/with-20m-jw-player-wants-video-publishers-to-look-past-youtube/#commentsWed, 17 Sep 2014 15:13:18 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1554676Video startup JW Player has raised a fresh $20 million round of funding to grow beyond its status as one of the most used non-YouTube video players. It’s a SaaS video platform, and it powers one of the largest open-source video players available, so the chances are pretty good that nearly everyone surfing the web has used […]
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Video startup JW Player has raised a fresh $20 million round of funding to grow beyond its status as one of the most used non-YouTube video players.

It’s a SaaS video platform, and it powers one of the largest open-source video players available, so the chances are pretty good that nearly everyone surfing the web has used it at least once before. The company claims that about five percent of all video streamed happens through its JW Player across 2 million sites to 900 million monthly unique viewers. JW Player is significant because it’s a solution for video publishers who find they can’t generate enough revenue through YouTube alone.

“At JW Player, we are squarely focused on leveraging our enormous footprint to create what we call the ‘open video ecosystem,’ a network of connected players that provides publishers with unique insights around how people are engaging with video,” said JW Player founder and CEO Dave Otten in a statement.

The startup said it plans to use the additional capital to continue growing the business, as well as expand its sales, marketing, and more. It will also use the funding to further develop its SaaS platform to give video publishers better insights on the content they produce.

Founded in 2008, the New York-based startup has raised a total of $25.6 million in funding to date. The new round was led by by Greycroft Growth and Greenspring Associates, with participation from Cueball Capital and e.ventures.

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]]>0With $20M, JW Player wants video publishers to look past YouTubeThis new 'holographic video' tech paves the way for a real-life Holodeckhttp://venturebeat.com/2014/08/11/this-new-holographic-video-tech-paves-the-way-for-a-real-life-holodeck/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/11/this-new-holographic-video-tech-paves-the-way-for-a-real-life-holodeck/#commentsTue, 12 Aug 2014 02:55:26 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1524883Graphics startup Otoy released a new 360-degree holographic capture system that has the potential to drastically change how the media industry uses video. Otoy’s new system allows you to capture the parameters of a setting (people, objects, scenes) with a mobile device’s camera. It then sends that video information to be encoded via the cloud, […]
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Graphics startup Otoy released a new 360-degree holographic capture system that has the potential to drastically change how the media industry uses video.

Otoy’s new system allows you to capture the parameters of a setting (people, objects, scenes) with a mobile device’s camera. It then sends that video information to be encoded via the cloud, which allows video producers to display a 360 degree view on video stills as demonstrated in the video embedded below.

Essentially, this means you’ll be able to display a “holographic video” that mimics what you’d see when looking outside a window while walking — including details like lighting and color. You’ll still need to equip a camera like the Kinect to track a person’s face to make the effect happen.

And while this isn’t exactly a Holodeck, Rod Roddenberry (son of legendary Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) said that he believes Otoy’s tech is the kind of software that would be needed to power a real-life version of the Holodeck itself. For now, it’ll be more than helpful to those that wish to create videos with highly detailed special effects. And it could also help change what you’d expect from a physical marketing/advertising sign.

“Holographic video, or holographic light field rendering as it’s technically known, produces stunningly realistic images that can be looked at from any vantage point,” the company said in a statement. “Each frame of video accurately simulates every ray of light in a given scene or environment and every interaction that each light ray has with the surfaces and materials therein. Every reflection, refraction, and absorption of that field of light is modeled as it would be in the real world.”

Otoy CEO and cofounder Jules Urbach told VentureBeat this kind of computing power is the same image rendering quality found in major blockbuster movies, which typically takes days to produce. However, Otoy’s new holographic capture system makes it possible to offer the same quality via a smartphone in just seconds.

The company has already partnered with a handful of major entertainment companies and film studios to put its holographic video capture tech into action. Otoy said it plans to make a commercial launch of the tech (via freestanding volumetric holographic displays) at some point in 2015.

Besides making 360-degree video, Otoy’s tools can be used to make animated movies with special effects or high-end video games too.

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]]>0This new 'holographic video' tech paves the way for a real-life HolodeckTelstra buys major stake in enterprise video platform Ooyalahttp://venturebeat.com/2014/08/11/telstra-buys-enterprise-video-platform-ooyala-for-270m/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/11/telstra-buys-enterprise-video-platform-ooyala-for-270m/#commentsMon, 11 Aug 2014 23:31:15 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1525055Ooyala provides video services for some of the top media brands in the world. Now it's a subsidiary of Telstra.
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Enterprise-level video platform Ooyala has been scooped up by major telecom company Telstra, the companies announced today.

Ooyala provides video services (such as publishing/encoding, custom video players, and video analytics) for some of the top media brands in the world, including Univision, Foxtel, Comedy Central, and NBC Universal. Its services are viewed as a real solution for companies that need video services that scale well beyond YouTube and Vimeo.

Telstra already owned a 23 percent stake in Ooyala and had invested $61 million in the company. As part of the deal, the telecom will pay an additional $270 million to own 98 percent of Ooyala (total purchase price was not disclosed), which will then become a subsidiary of Telstra.

Ooyala will continue to operate as a separate business under current CEO Jay Fulcher.

“With today’s news we catapult Ooyala from innovative online video start-up to market-leading cloud TV juggernaut,” Fulcher said in a statement. “As the world’s collective definition of TV and video blurs across multiple devices and a more personalized viewing experience, the technologies and measurement tools for content delivery and monetization will evolve.”

Ooyala also said that the acquisition deal will allow the company to scale its services across the globe, as well as continue to build a video platform that caters to media brands that need to maintain both a linear TV experience as well as a presence on the web.

Hyperlapse is just a research project at the moment, but it could become commercially available soon.

As Microsoft’s researchers explain, today’s video stabilization methods don’t work when you just speed up a video for a traditional time-lapse, as video shakiness is actually exacerbated when you speed it up. Hyperlapse solves this problem by creating a 3D representation of the video’s path, finding an optimal spot in that 3D version of the video for smooth video, connecting those points together, and then generating a smoothed out time-lapsed video with those frames.

The results are simply beautiful:

The project is the brainchild of Microsoft researchers Johannes Kopf, Michael Cohen, and Richard Szeliski. They say they’re working on making the Hyperlapse algorithm available as a Windows app, but it’ll likely be some time until that happens.

Below, check out a more technical breakdown of how Hyperlapse works:

More information:

More information:

]]>0Microsoft can turn your shaky GoPro videos into smooth, buttery goodnessYahoo Screen to debut "One Chance" ahead of theatrical releasehttp://venturebeat.com/2014/07/21/yahoo-screen-to-debut-one-chance-ahead-of-theatrical-release/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/21/yahoo-screen-to-debut-one-chance-ahead-of-theatrical-release/#commentsMon, 21 Jul 2014 14:07:39 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1510499Why watch in the theater when you can watch on Yahoo Screen? That’s the question Yahoo is hoping film buffs will ask themselves before they head off to the movie theater. The company just announced it will screen the David Frankel directed film “One Chance” ahead of its theatrical release. Yahoo initially launched a video vertical in 2006. […]
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Why watch in the theater when you can watch on Yahoo Screen? That’s the question Yahoo is hoping film buffs will ask themselves before they head off to the movie theater.

The company just announced it will screen the David Frankel directed film “One Chance” ahead of its theatrical release.

Yahoo initially launched a video vertical in 2006. Called Yahoo Video, it was initially meant to compete with YouTube. Relaunched in 2013 as Yahoo Screen, the company has shown an increased interest in competing with video services like Netflix and Hulu in addition to YouTube. Yahoo has been scooping up original content in the last couple of months, first nabbing the season premiere of HBO’s The Leftovers as well as a sixth season of popular television show Community.

The fresh content grabs are certainly getting the company noticed, but it’s not yet clear whether Yahoo Screen is positioned to usurp users from more popular services.

Yahoo has been bulking up its video content recently, but its most recent acquisition shows a shift in focus from content to delivery.

Yahoo has acquired streaming service RayV for an undisclosed amount of money, it announced on Friday. Founded in 2006, RayV has developed a software platform for high definition web and mobile streaming as well as a suite of content distribution and management services, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Yahoo has been moving quickly to build video content capable of competing with the likes of Netflix and YouTube. In April, the company announced it had commissioned two new comedy shows from Smallville executive producer Mike Tomlin and Freaks and Geeks director Paul Feig. Also in April, Yahoo started collaborating with events producer LiveNation to bring one live concert a day to its online audience. Most recently, the company clinched two deals, one for a sixth season of NBC’s cancelled show Community and one for the first episode of HBO’s latest series, The Leftovers

But the RayV acquisition is all about broadening Yahoo’s video delivery system, meaning possible tweaks to its existing online video platform and expansion into mobile video. Most of the RayV team, currently based in New York City, will move to Yahoo’s research and development center in Tel Aviv, according to Yahoo’s announcement.

Getting serious about the way it presents its growing arsenal of video content may attract new advertisers — an item high on CEO Marissa Mayer’s priority list.

Before being acquired by Yahoo, RayV had investments totaling over $40 million. Investors include Accel Partners, Argoquest Holdings LLC, Accrue Sports and Entertainment Ventures, Dragon Ventures and Metamorphic Ventures, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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]]>0Yahoo dives deeper into video, buys streaming service RayVLayoffs spark new direction for video-chat startup Spreecasthttp://venturebeat.com/2014/07/07/layoffs-spark-new-direction-for-video-chat-startup-spreecast/
http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/07/layoffs-spark-new-direction-for-video-chat-startup-spreecast/#commentsMon, 07 Jul 2014 16:40:14 +0000http://venturebeat.com/?p=1502613A staff shakeup is sending group video-chat provider Spreecast in a new direction. Two weeks ago, the startup quietly laid off half its team. With a “new focus,” Spreecast plans to invest in “paid subscription features,” the company tells VentureBeat. News of the layoffs was first disclosed to VentureBeat by an anonymous tipster, who also suggested the firm is “in danger of […]
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A staff shakeup is sending group video-chat provider Spreecast in a new direction.

Two weeks ago, the startup quietly laid off half its team. With a “new focus,” Spreecast plans to invest in “paid subscription features,” the company tells VentureBeat.

News of the layoffs was first disclosed to VentureBeat by an anonymous tipster, who also suggested the firm is “in danger of running out of money and may have to close.” A Spreecast spokesperson verified the layoffs by email but firmly denied that the startup is running out of funds.

Here’s the company’s statement, in full:

We laid off about half of our team last week. We made a strategic decision recently to put more focus on our paid subscription features. This new focus meant we could trim parts of the team who were working on other areas. We are not running out of cash. We’ll be announcing the changes to the paid subscriptions in the coming months.

Last we heard from Spreecast, the firm told us it was working on a large-scale redesign set to launch April 21. At the time, Spreecast hoped to connect “people through conversation” with “new interactive features,” the company told us in April. Spreecast’s redesign launched on schedule, taking inspiration from Reddit and YouTube.